


A case of writer’s block

by evermoreskywalker



Category: One Direction (Band), Real Person Fiction
Genre: Gen, Instagram, POV Niall Horan, Short One Shot, Songwriter Niall Horan, Songwriting, Wordcount: 500-1.000, Writer's Block
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:40:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28431030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evermoreskywalker/pseuds/evermoreskywalker
Summary: How's writing going?"Funny y'should ask that, actually," he drawled in response, sounding more and more Irish with every word. "Actually... horrible. That's why I'm on here procrastinatin'."- - -Set in 2019, Niall is trying to write his next album while home in Ireland, and he goes live on Instagram when he finds himself with a serious case of writer’s block.
Kudos: 3





	A case of writer’s block

Tour was long over. Niall had been home for months, now faced with the prospect of having to write and record his next album. His fans were eager for a follow-up and they made sure to tweet him this thousands of times per day. It could get overwhelming. Despite being in the public eye for the last 8 or so years, he never quite got used to the pestering from fans who felt like he _owed_ them something. Some days he just couldn't bear to pick up his phone, in fear of what he might find waiting for him on his social media.  
  
It had been one of those difficult days. The singer had gone to visit his family in Ireland in the hopes of some seclusion. He couldn't always write among the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles. Despite his family's encouragement, he was having one of his worst bouts of writer's block. For the third time that day, he sat back down at the piano with a sigh. He had one little bit of a melody stuck in his head, but he couldn't turn it into a full tune. He just couldn't find the words to go with it, either. He fooled around on the piano for a few minutes, plodding through the notes of _Chopsticks_. He laughed at himself after this, realizing that the day's writing session was just going to be a bust and that he should divert his attention to something else.  
  
Still sitting at the piano bench, Niall pulled his phone out of his back pocket. He hadn't interacted with his fans much lately, and one thing he did enjoy doing was teasing them. The whole fandom would completely freak out over the smallest bit of information. He tapped over to Instagram and started a live video. He knew it would only take a few seconds before the fans would start pouring in to watch him.  
  
"Hey guys, how's it going?" he greeted the first few thousands of fans to open the live feed. He smiled as the comments rolled in.  
  
_Leak your album, king!_  
  
"Hey now, you know I can't do that. It's not even done, after all."  
  
_I love you so much!_  
_Wow, gorgeous!_  
_Look at his hair. I'm deceased._  
  
He would always let these types of comments just scroll on by. He never knew what to say. He could agree with them and sound conceited. He could tell people to stop commenting on his appearance, which would do absolutely nothing. He could disagree with them, which would definitely increase the number of comments as fans tried to argue with him. As far as Niall was concerned, he couldn't win here.  
  
_How's writing going?_  
  
"Funny y'should ask that, actually," he drawled in response, sounding more and more Irish with every word. "Actually... horrible. That's why I'm on here procrastinatin'."  
  
_Write me a love song!_  
_OMG whatever you write will be a bop TBH._  
_We miss you in Brazil!_  
  
He found himself zoning out, watching the comments scroll by. This was a terrible habit, which his publicist was always quick to remind him of. You're not supposed to just go live and stare off into space!  
  
"So, uh, anyone have any suggestions? Tryin' to write a new song today but I got nothin'"  
  
After several more rounds of _marry me!_ and heart emojis went by, one comment stood out.  
  
_Write something about your home_  
  
There was something to that, he thought. His buddy Ed Sheeran wrote _Castle on the Hill_ about his home and it was a huge hit. There was no reason why Niall couldn't do the same, though he did not operate under the delusion that any song of his would ever chart as high as Ed's.  
  
"You know, you may have something there."  
  
He continued on the live feed for a few more minutes, making idle chit-chat with fans as their comments went by. He promised them that he was working hard on his album and that they'd hear from him again soon, and then he closed Instagram for the night.  
  
He then pulled out his notebook, scribbling a few things down. He started with the basics, just a few words to set the theme.  
  
_Mullingar. Ireland. Family. Home._  
  
None of these jumped out at him, though.  
  
But.  
  
But, there was one aspect of _home_ he had been refusing to think about. He tried to bury it down deep but it bubbled up to the surface on occasion, demanding to be dealt with.  
  
_Her._  
  
Despite having written plenty of love songs, he could never bring himself to write about _her_. She was all tangled up with the concept of home in his mind. It would never be a truthful song about his home if it didn't mention her.  
  
He never talked about his personal life in the press. Most of the time, his relationship status was kept well under wraps. His fans definitely didn't know about _her_.  
  
He wasn't ready to spill the details to the world, but perhaps it was time to get it out into a song. He could feel fully formed phrases springing to his mind, and he began to write them down furiously before he forgot them. He ruffled his hand through his hair absentmindedly, reading back what he just wrote. The dam had been broken, and there was no sense in trying to fix it now. He had to deal with this. Maybe when the song was written, he'd decide not to use it. That was an entirely different hurdle to jump. For now, it was just demanding to be _written_.  
  
"Well, I guess now's as good a time as any... So much for writer's block..."

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in 2019 after the Flicker World Tour ended and we were waiting to see what Niall was going to come out with next.


End file.
